snotty and sobbing.

i had a rough time convincing myself that today was thursday. i laid/lain/layed? in bed for a good 5 minutes contemplating what day of the week it was. legitimately had no idea.

i also have been sleeping later in the mornings because of a self imposed running rest break.

self imposed because of the disaster that was sunday at the Allstate 13.1

saturday mom and i went to the LA Fitness to get my packet. which was the lamest packet pick-up i have ever been too. but whatever.

mom and i watched lsu get clobbered and the georgia get stomped. bad day in our household in the football world.

after downing about 18 gallons of water, i finally convinced myself to go to bed.

this was the first race that i haven't been worried about sleeping late, missing the race, wearing no clothes to the race. typical worries that keep me up the whole night. i slept like a rock until the lovely hour of 445. mmmmm. should have known.

mom and i drove over to where the parking was for the race, walked to dunkin donuts...i had to potty, and failed, and then walked to the race. it wasn't a super big race, but it was just the half and a 5k. a bit of a bizarre combo if you ask me.

the race began in the dark, and it was a bit of an obstacle course. the neighborhood didn't have street lights, so you had to seriously watch out for the speed bumps and tree limbs.

i was falling nicely behind the 1:45 pace group. i knew i probably wouldn't be able to sustain it, but i figured it was a good place to be. the pace felt comfortable and the weather was beautiful.

i crested a hill just as the sun was coming up and it was absolutely spectacular. mile 7.5ish comes along and i feel that familiar tug at my knee. i knew the race was over for me.

so what does a 26 year old do, when she knows her IT band is shot, and she has +/- 6.6 miles to go? well this one sat on the curb and sobbed uncontrollably. SOBBED. i started to walk back, but i couldn't make myself. i wanted to finish. i HAD to finish.

snotty, tear streaked me jumped back in the pack and motored on. and by motored i mean walked/hobbled/jogged the rest of it.

if i had been able to keep my pace i would have finished right about 1:50 or so. a big PR for me. but alas, i didn't.

i ran my heart out the last .5 mile. and cried simultaneously.

not one of my finer moments.

but i must say, runners during a race are the most supportive people ever. EVER.

and it's over.

tomorrow is tentative run day 1.

eep.

sunday is race day.

eep.

but...the weather is supposed to be gorgeous.

perfect race weather if you ask me. and since you are reading this then i am going to pretend that you asked.


i am a bit nervous about this race because i was sick for a bit during training and because i got my first email about packet pickup....yesterday. yep yesterday. okay maybe it was monday and it was in my spam folder, but still. cutting it a bit close if you ask me.

running has actually been going really well lately, so i am excited to race it and not be super worried about the actual running aspect.

i know i can run 13.1 miles. i've done it before, 4 times to be exact. i am going into this course blind. i like it better that way. no scary hill pre-knowledge.

yes this probably isn't the best approach, but that's neither here nor there for to me. i like running just to run.

when i run the full in december i will probably make dad drive the entire course with me, while i rock nervously in the front seat. sounds like a good combo. 26.2 miles is a long way dude, give me a break.

i also get ridiculously nervous before races. even 5ks. don't ask. same thing when i have to take a test, call someone on the phone....awesome opossum.

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